The collection contains correspondence,
writings, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographs and artifacts
documenting the life and work of Northwest writer and poet Ella Higginson.
Records include drafts and copies of Higginson’s published and unpublished
novels, screenplays, short stories and poems. Newspaper Clippings and
Scrapbooks also include copies of articles, short stories and poems written by
Higginson, reviews and articles regarding Higginson and her work.
Repository:
Western Washington University Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Funding for preparing this
finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the Washington State
Legislature to the Washington Women's History Consortium. Funding for encoding
the finding aid was awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Northwest poet and writer Ella Higginson (1861-1940) was born Ella
Rhoads in Council Grove, Kansas. She moved to Oregon with her parents as an
infant, spending her youth in Portland and Oregon City. She attended public
school in Oregon, and also received private lessons from Oxford trained S.D.
Pope, then one of the most renowned educators on the West coast. In 1885, Ella
married Russell C. Higginson (1852-1909) in Portland Oregon. The couple moved
to Bellingham, Washington (then the town of Sehome) in 1888, where they opened
a drug store on Elk Street. It was during this period that Higginson's writing
career began to flourish, with her poetry and short stories published
nationally by journals including McClures, Harper's Monthly, and Colliers. Her
best known work, a poem entitled "Four Leaf Clover," was first published by
West Shore Magazine in 1890. Higginson’s novels and collections of short
stories include Mariella-Of-Out-West, Alaska the Great Country, The Flower that
Grew in the Sand, From the Land of Snow Pearls, and The Forest Orchid and Other
Stories. In June 1931, she was made poet laureate of Washington State.
Higginson was actively involved in community and civic affairs. She
helped establish Bellingham’s first public reading room and library (of which
she became a long-time board member), and also retained an active interest in
Whatcom County Normal School (later Western Washington University). Higginson
was deeply concerned with issues affecting women, including female education
and the institution of marriage. In a 1889 article in West Shore, she argued
that the "real evil was not that divorce was too easy, but that marriage was
too easy, and that there should be a law preventing marriage before the age of
thirty, especially if the woman was homeless."* She was an honorary member of
societies including the Progressive Literary and Fraternal Club, the Bellingham
Soroptimists and the Washington State Federation of Women’s Clubs. Higginson
was also the campaign manager for Mrs Frances C. Axtell, elected as the first
female member of Washington State's House of Representatives in 1912. Higginson
died in Bellingham, Wash. on December 27, 1940.
*Cited in
Koert, Dorothy.The Lyric Singer: A Biography of Ella
Higginson. Bellingham, Washington:Center for Pacific Northwest Studies & Fourth Corner
Registry,1985.page 52.
Content Description
The Higginson papers contain correspondence, manuscripts, clippings,
scrapbooks, photographs and artifacts documenting the life and work of
Northwest writer and poet Ella Higginson. Records in the collection span the
period circa 1870s-1940, with the bulk of material dated from 1880 onwards.
Correspondence includes letters from publishers and contemporary writers
including Lloyd Mifflin regarding Higginson’s work and its publication.
Higginson’s writings include drafts of her published and unpublished novels,
screenplays, short stories and poetry, including manuscripts of Mariella Of
Out-West, and Alaska the Great Country. Researchers should note that many of
these drafts are partial or incomplete. The collection also contains a small
number of short stories and poems written by Higginson’s sister, Carrie Blake
Morgan.
Newspaper clippings dated circa 1880-1920 include copies of short
stories, poems and articles written by Higginson, and also reviews and articles
about her life and work. Scrapbooks compiled by Higginson (1897 – 1909) also
contain similar clippings, and copies of her poems. The collection also
contains photographic prints and negatives of Ella Higginson, family and
friends. Artifacts include printing blocks with images of Ella, her signature
stamp, and copies of the words and music for her Four Leaf Clover poem.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
The collection is open to the public.
Preferred Citation :
Ella Higginson Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western
Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The Ella Higginson Papers are organized in accordance with the
following series and sub-series arrangement:
Series I. Correspondence circa 1890-1940
Series II. Higginson's Writings undated
Sub-series 1. Novels
Sub-series 2. Screenplays
Sub-series 3. Short Stories
Sub-series 4. Poetry
Series III. Writings by Carrie Blake Morgan, undated
Series IV. Newspaper Clippings circa 1879-1920
Series V. Scrapbooks circa 1897 - 1909
Series VI. Photographs circa 1870-1920s
Series VII. Ephemera, 1904, undated
Series VIII. Artifacts, undated
Custodial History :
The Bellingham Public Library donated materials in the Higginson
Papers to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in May, 1998. The Bellingham
Public Library previously received the materials in 1944 as a bequest from the
Higginson estate.
Processing Note :
John Flancher completed initial processing of the Ella Higginson
Papers for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 1998. In 2003, Ruth
Steele re-engineered the collection.
Bibliography :
Koert, Dorothy.The Lyric Singer: A Biography of Ella
Higginson.Bellingham, Washington: Center for Pacific Northwest Studies & Fourth Corner
Registry,1985.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Contain drafts and copies of novels,
screenplays, short stories and poetry written by Ella Higginson. Researchers
should note drafts of Higginson’s works are often partial and incomplete.
Almost all of these writings are undated
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Subseries 1: Novels
Undated
Mariella; of
Out-West
Box/Folder
2/1 - 2/2
Draft I
undated
2/3 - 2/5
Draft II
undated
3/1 - 3/3
Draft II (continued)
undated
3/4
Draft III
undated
3/5 - 3/6
Draft IV
undated
3/7
Draft Fragments
undated
4/1
Galley Proofs
undated
Alaska, the Great
Country
Box/Folder
5/1
Handwritten draft
undated
6/1
Handwritten draft (continued)
undated
7/1 - 7/7
Handwritten draft
undated
8/1 - 8/3
Typed draft
undated
8/4 - 8/8
Draft Fragments
undated
9/1
Travel Journal
undated
Orilla
Box/Folder
9/2 - 9/3
Draft Fragments
undated
Subseries 2: Screenplays
Undated
Box/Folder
9/4
Just Like the Men
undated
9/5 - 9/6
A Political Story
undated
9/7
Rose in My Heart
undated
Subseries 3: Short Stories
Undated
Box/Folder
10/1 -10/11
untitled short stories
undated
10/12 - 10/14
untitled short story fragments
undated
11/1
Mr Slover
undated
11/2
The Fiddling Mate of the Santa Anna
undated
11/3
The Little Girl From the Lighthouse
undated
11/4
The Rejuvenation of Mrs. Roop 1
undated
11/5
A Point of Giving In
undated
11/6
The Woman That Came to Karluk
undated
11/7
Avenelle of the Mountains
undated
11/8
A True Story
undated
11/9
A Socialistic Flower
undated
11/10
The Philandress
undated
11/11
The Man Who Stayed
undated
11/12
The Last Furrow
undated
11/13
Extra Pure Woman
undated
11/14
One O Them Still Stubborn Kinds
undated
11/15
A Study in Gossip
undated
11/16
A Case of Municipals
undated
11/17
M'liss's Child
undated
11/18
His Great Hour
undated
11/19
The Candle of God
undated
11/20
The Trembling Heart
undated
11/21
Euphemy
undated
11/22
The Mate of the Santa Anna
undated
11/23
A Perfectly Model Man
undated
11/24
Entertaining the Editor
undated
12/1
The Other Woman
undated
12/2
The Message From God
undated
12/3
For So Much Heaven
undated
12/4
The Wooing of Delisca
undated
12/5
The Supreme Hour
undated
12/6
The Russo-Greek Churches of Alaska
undated
12/7
Alaska: The Dream Voyage
undated
12/8
The Lavender Westward
undated
12/9
Mis' Bunnel's Funeral
undated
12/10
Mandy's Organ
undated
12/11
Mrs. Ousley's Haviland China
undated
12/12
The Anspiker Chickens
undated
12/13
Belindy's One Beau
undated
12/14
Hearts and Hearts
undated
12/15
Stories for Anthology (collection)
undated
13/1
Dove Colored Door
undated
13/2
A Change of Creed
undated
13/3
The Miracle of the North
undated
13/4
A Perfectly Model Man
undated
13/5
The Violin
undated
13/6
The Stubbornness of Uriah Slater
undated
13/7
Clarissa
undated
13/8
The Weaver
undated
13/9
The Message of Anna Laura Sweet
undated
13/10
The Great Birthright
undated
Subseries 4: Poetry
Undated
Box/Folder
13/11 - 13/16
Poems
undated
13/17
Poems (printed copies, labeled “Not in
Books”)
undated
13/18
Published and illustrated poems
undated
13/19
Published Poem Book The
Vanishing Race and Other Poems
Scrapbooks contain clippings and copies of
Higginson’s poetry and articles, as well as articles and reviews about
Higginson and her work. The first, spanning the period circa 1897-1905 was
compiled by Higginson in 1939 for the State Library in Olympia.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
